With the rains making its unwelcomed guest appearances the past few weeks, every one seems to have caught the sniffles. This weekend was poor ‘ol hubby’s turn to bite the bullet.While he whimpered, sniffed and coughed his way through the morning, it was time for some stove-top therapy.

I remember Mom bringing out her famous Chicken Soup whenever she heard the slighest sneeze or cough come from our poor little souls. Her recipe was simple - a lot of love and a handful of ingredients simmering in a big stock pot!

Now it was my turn. As I had no inkling of how Mom makes her soups, I decided to make my own version of it. My kitchen had the required necessaties, including a brand new stock pot, to make a big batch of a warm, soothing remedy to drive away hubby dear’s heebie-jeebies!

There’s always something good about having a big bowl of hot soup when your insides just don’t function as well as they should. The warmness from the hot liquid brings about a comfort like no other. Add to that a handful of special aromatic ingredients, and not only would you feel your life spring up again, but the aroma will make you drift to a faraway land.

You don’t have to be under the weather to enjoy this recipe. Just a need for some comfort will do! So bring out that pot and let the aromatic warmth fill up your home and you.

Chicken-Vegetable Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

2 Chicken breasts, sliced into bite-size pieces 1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped 1 tbsp garlic, finely chopped 2 cup Chinese cabbage, finely sliced 2-3 stalks of celery, thinly sliced 2-3 stalks of green onion, chopped 1 tsp pure sesame oil 1 tsp light cooking oil

1 tbsp light soya sauce salt and pepper to taste lemon juice, required as per taste 1/2 pack vermicelli rice noodles 4 cups chicken/vegetable stock fresh parsley for garnish

Method:

1. In a large stock-pot, heat sesame and light oil and saute ginger and garlic till soft.
2. Add in chicken pieces and fry with salt and pepper till tender.
3. Mix in soya sauce and vegetables, and saute for 2-3 minutes.
4. Stir in chicken/vegetable stock and let it come to a boil.
5. Throw in rice noodles, and let it simmer covered for 10-15 minutes.
6. Garnish with lemon juice and fresh parsley, and serve warm.

Spicy Notes: This recipe can be altered to add any kind of veggies. It can even be made using various kinds of noodles ot pasta. For a purely hearty vegetarian version, use vegetable stock with a variety of fresh veggies and chick peas/lima beans substituted for the chicken.

Best enjoyed while wrapped with a warm blanket watching reruns of ‘Friends‘!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 23rd, 2006 at 8:23 pm and is filed under Recipes: Non-Vegetarian. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.